Massive shed due to change in hair direction?

[Narya]

Hi there LHCers, I hope you can help me understand this.

First, the facts: today I did my first successful dutch lace crown braid, and worn it for 3 or 4 hours, not more. I've shed twice the normal amount I shed in a whole day (24h).
Every time I do a braid where some hair has to go in a wildly different direction than usual (up instead of down, for example) my hair starts shedding like crazy. It's not that because it's contained the shed hairs fall all at the same time: I wear my hair up in a bun or a braid nearly everyday, and I am used to the amount I see when I comb (once or twice a day). It might have to be with updo tension, but I make my best to not do those "going in the non-usual way" hairstyles not tight at all so they won't pull. Try as I might, I end up with a kind of sore scalp, with my follicles hurting and my hairs committing suicide.

Also, the first times I tried to change my parting (the hair there it was starting to thin noticeably) I also shed a whole lot, and my follicles hurt afterwards.

Does anybody else experience this? Do you think I have extremely weak follicles and that I should stop doing really high buns/ponys, crown/lace/dutch/french braids that are not the most basic ones (basic french and dutch I can do just fine and my hair doesn't mutiny, I supposed it's used to it by now)? Is there something I can do to "strengthen" those follicles? Scalp massages, scritching, anything?

Any idea or suggestion will be appreciated. TIA!

[Alaia]

So, if you do make your follicles go against the direction they grow in then it puts additional strain on them.

I do part my hair contrary to the follicle growth on the recommendations of Neil Ward and I haven't noticed any extra shedding.

Using the BBB is also supposed to "exercise" the follicles to prevent this sort of thing happening.

I'm sorry I'm not more useful...

[spidermom]

Hmmmmm; I can't think of any mechanism that would cause this to happen. Actively growing hairs have roots which have to shrink before they shed out, so unless you're putting so much stress on your hair that you're ripping it out by the roots, I can't imagine what is going on. But I'm sure sorry to hear it.

[Narya]

Thank you for your answers, Alaia and spidermom!

I don't have a BBB, but there one at my grandma's house that we bought for me some years ago, so I can try in a week or so, when I go visit. Maybe I can even bring it back with me! Even if it's for some days, it can't hurt to try.

My hair falls out a lot (even though, thankfully, that doesn't make it noticeably thinner generally, if my trich doesn't kick in), so maybe I have weaker than average follicles or something. Anyway, I'd say that the bit of extra stress that is making it go in a direction that's not of it's natural growth it's too much at first. Parting differently just made me shed a bit more, now crown braids are like they have decided to jump off en masse. Maybe if I try to coach them slowly and progressively to go in all directions? :shrug:

Gah, just now that I was starting to get reasonably good at crown braids! :steam

[gthlvrmx]

I have the same thing going on, i suppose they just have to get used to it. I've noticed massaging my scalp every day has helped a lot, i suppose the little follicles get used to applied stress and eventually it doesn't hurt as much or pull them out or something because i can make my buns tighter and it doesn't hurt or cause more hair to come out.
It takes time and gentle updo's, nothing too tight on the scalp or it won't help at all.

[Narya]

Glad to know I'm not alone, at least!

[Narya]

Reviving this thread because I'm still suffering from this, and maybe somebody new sees it this time and has some idea.

I tried a very loose top-knot to sleep tonight, and while it was amazingly comfortable all the time, when I took it down this morning my scalp started hurting a whole lot. It feels like a mix between the poignant pain of pulling hairs (but now it's down and nothing pulls on it) and the itch of eczema. I'm tempted to put ice in it just to see if my scalp becomes numb and lets me live in peace the rest of the day. I've also shed a lot, too, though not as much as other times: my shedding is less now than it was then, so I think it's equally relevant.
I've tried scritching with a horn comb and scalp massages, and while it felt good it did not make a difference in pain or shedding when my follicles go "the wrong way".

Anybody has any ideas or something that helped them?

[DancingQueen]

The more I mess with my hair, the more I shed. For example, my hair shed like crazy when I do an upside down scalp massage, or whenever I try to make a lace braided headband. I think it is normal. :) About parting your hair, I think you will feel it for a while, but it should stop after a while.

Edit: Try to only switch parts before you wash your hair, so the hair dries in that direction. And maybe regularly give yourself scalp massages. I don't know if you oil, but if you do, comb your hair back and hide the part, that way you 'train' your hair. Hope this helps. :)

[moon2dove]

I can only wear low updo's because I get pain from updo's that seem to touch anywhere near the top/back of my head. For this reason I can't wear a high pony tail or a high bun.

[Arctic]

Narya, I don't really have any answers, but two things came to my mind, which maybe will give you some clues to where to continue your search. I hope these won't scare you, these are just random thoughts of mine.


First, I noticed you mention you have (had?) trichotillomania. I have it too and have read a lot of it in the past. I don't know how bad your trich has been, but are you aware it can permanently damage our hair follicles? In the worst case scenario the follicle can die. In milder cases, the texture or color of the hair can change, for example. Sometimes temporarily, sometimes permanently. Different people get different damage to follicles, and I was thinking, that maybe your current problem is because of your trich has damaged your follicles.

Other thing that came to my mind, is that I read in some articles I found from the web about different hair shaft disorders and such. I don't remember what is was called, but there can be some hair related disorders where the hairs are attached to the scalp very weakly, thus shedding/getting pulled out easily.


If you have a change, it might be good to see a trichologist or dermatologist.


Keep us updated on your hair/scalp situation, I do hope you find a solution fast!

[Narya]

Thank you, the three of you.

Moon2dove, something similar happens to me: medium to low buns are all right, but high buns/ponys, crown braids, twin french/dutch... my hair does not want to have anything to do with them.

DancingQueen, thank you for your suggestions. I generally change my part when my hair is wet, and it slowly cooperates. I might have to do it everytime I shower and try with more different parts, to see if I can at least minimize this issue. I don't oil, just the ends and length sometimes, but it might be worth a try to add oil to my scalp massages.

And Arctic, I think you are on to something there. I have (and had) trichotillomania for many years, since I was a child actually. I have had only one major episode where I ended up with a bald spot at the end of my part, and some minor ones that have thinned my hair around my part (which was I first started changing parts), and this shedding problem affects all my scalp. I'll have to watch it, though, because it might well be possible that the worse areas are those that suffered the worst attacks from my trich. Hmmm... Thanks for pointing that out.
I don't know if it could be any hair related disorder, but seeing that the ones suffering from this seem to be a minority, it might well be. I'll try to go to a dermatologist if I can (I doubt I can't reach a trichologist, didn't even know they existed until now!), but don't have hopes that they'll tell me anything: last time I went they didn't even look at me, just said "yeah, eczema" and prescribed drugs for it. If I didn't have a doctor in my family I wouldn't have known if they were right or not...
Thanks for taking the time to answer, you've given me many things to think about.

[jacqueline101]

I don't know about the braid causing shedding but I've had follicle pain. I've had that happen when I done my triple pony tail after I done the bun. I don't know why and I've been shedding more sine then. I don't think its from my hair being too tight its just changes that cause change. I think its from changes like your hair its resisting change. I do find massage and oiling helps the hair change.